Mail-bag catching and delivering mechanism.



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QW.M 2.. noll'v a 7 oo nu N wir". @sus Q PATENTED PEB. .11, 1908.' E. W. PIX. t MA'IL BAG GATCHING AND DBLIVBRING MBGHANsM.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 30, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2Ik Irv.

if l Y nnTTiin sTATEs PATENT onirica.

EDWARD W. FIX,` OF DANVILLE, ILLINOIS.l

MAIL-BAG GATCHING AND DELIVERING MEGHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1908.

Application filed July 30. 1907. Serial No. 386,204.

mail pouch'liandling apparatus for railway oars, and has special reference to a simple and practical combination of devices con-` stituting a catching and delivering mechanism vconiprising means for safelyv and accurately catching and delivering mail on and from a car in motion.

To this endv the invention contemplates a simple and practicalconstruction of mail bag catching and delivering crane that can be manipulated with facility and despatch, while at the same time embodying means for positively catching and delivering a bag or pooch. with perfect safety to the latter with the train moving at any rate of speed.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a crane comprising a minimum number of parts, and capable of being readily-atl tached to, and detached from, the door frame of the car, and also capable of being readily swung into and out of the door open i ing'in the operation ofcatching and delivering the bags. I 4

Another. object of the invention 1s to provide a crane oi' an exceedingly light and durable construction which 'at the same time is capable of supporting and delivering any weight of mail that can be handled, and also adapted for supporting and delivering a single mail bag or pouch, or the maximum numbnr of bags or pouches which are delivered at any one station. Furthermore, the in# vontion provides a construction whichinsuros the delivery of the mail 'bags a sufficient distance out from the car so that the same will not be drawn by the suction beneath the car wheels. i

'A further object of the invention is to as sociatc with the crane a simple and thoroughly pactical catching device `or fork capable of accurately and securely catching aV bag suspended at-the station, -and thereby rom-iiving the same on the Inail oar, and further in connection with the catching and delivering crane, the invention' embodies a novel construction of station bag receiver which effectually receives the bag delivered from the car without injury thereto.

With these and many other objects in view, which will more readily appear as the nature of the inventionv is better under lstood, the Same consists in the novel `construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

The essential features of the invention involvedY in carrying out the objects above indicated, are necessarily susceptible to a wide range of structural modification without departing from the vscope of the invention, but a preferred embodiment 'of the latter is shown in the accompanying drawings, in Which:

'zon

Figure 1 1s a perspective view of a oom- .plete mail bag catching and delivering mechanism for cars constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view, of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig.2. on the line 4 4 of Figi 2. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the swinging end portion of the crane showing the same fitted with the sulpplemental bag carrier for increasing' t carrying capacity of the crane. Fig. 6 is 'a front view` of lthe construction shown in i Fig. 5. v f l Like references designate corresponding parts in the several figures of thedrawings. In carrying out the present invention, no change whatever is required in the ordinary equipment of a mail car, and the improved cranecomprises, in its general organization, the swln ing crane pro er deslgnated 1n its entirety ythe numera l, and a stationary Fig. 4 is a similar view i supporting bracket 2, the latterbeing adapted to be Ascrewed or otherwise fastened to one of the side jambs of the door frame of a mail car at a; proper elevation for the convenient handling of the crane proper. Preferably, each jamb of all of the door frames ofthemail.

lcar is fitted with the stationary supporting brackets '2, and a sin le crane 1 employed 1n 100 connection with 'fall o said brackets, so 'as to meet every requirement of the mail service in delivering the mail from either side of the car, or With the car going in either direction.'

To provide for this, the crane proper 1 is not 105:

only pivotally connected with its supporting l bracket, -but isalso 4detachable therefrom,

such connection being conveniently provided for by formin each bracket 2 at its upper and lower 'en s, with horizontally disposed 110 langes 3 and 4 respectively, carrying the u standing pivot studs 5 and 6 upon which tllie inner extremities of the crane frame are pivotally anddetachably hooked.

The frame of the swinging crane essentially comprises a main lower frame bar 7' detachably and pivotally engaging at one end the pivot stud 6, the inclined brace arm 8 "secured at its lower end, as at 9, to the bar 7,

and having its upper end detachably and pivotally engaged with the upper stud 5, and the rear vertical brace 7". v

The outer` swinging end portion of the .nain frame bar 7 of the frame carries a releasable supporting latch device for the mail bag or bags. This device includes a sup porting bolt 10, slidably working through the guide openings 11 of a U-shaped or equivalent keeper 12 and pivotally connected at lone end to a pivotal releasetrigger 13. The trigger 18 is pivoted intermediate its ends, as at 14, on the frame bar 7, and the keeper 12 is riveted or otherwise fastened to said frame bar. The hangerI ring 15 at oneend of a mailbag or pouchv is adapted to be hung on the bolt 10 within-its keeper, and when the crane is swung outwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1, the outer end of the trigger 13 isV adapted to come in contact with a post or equivalent abutment 16 along side of the track. Vhen this occurs, the trigger is rocked on its axis, and withdraws the bolt 10 from its keeper and from the hanger 15 of the mail bag, thereby releasing and delivering the latter.

In practice, several Inail bags are fastened together by engaging a snap on one with an extra hanger ring 15L on another, so that as many as three bags could be hung on, and delivered from, a single supporting bolt 10, and to still further increase the capacity of Vthe crane, there may be employed a supplemental bag carrier 17.

The supplemental carrier 17 may conveniently consist of a cross bar having'a central keeper hole 18 engaging over a supporting pin 19 on the crane proper, and also provided with brace arms 20 Aengaging upon opposite sides of the frame bar' 7 and beneath the ilanged stop bar 21 fastened on said frame bar 7 and ger 13 when thrown in either direction.

The supplemental carrier bar 17 is equipped at both ends with a supporting latch device having the same construction and action as the one already described ,hence the same references will a ply to similar parts of the several latch evices. With the supplemental carrier, it will be observed tha-t as many as nine mail bagscould'be handled and delivered with facility.

1n its operative position vfor catchf wif-and dellfv'ernlg a mail vbag the crane Vl 4is wung -s-aoutwardly from the door to a )ositionat substajntially right angles to the ody of the car acting as a stop lor the trig! standards of the stand 2S may v device on the car.

suspended at the station lor delivery to the car is designed to be caught bodily so as to overhang the road at the side of the track, and in this position'the crane is preferably temporarily braced against movement in either direction so as to resist the shock of catching and delivering a bag, by

means ci a brace rod 22 detachably hooked at one end, as at 23, in the lower frame bar 7 of the crane, and at its other end provided vwith an eye or loop 24 which may be conveniently hooked overone of the pivot studs of the stationary bracket on the door jambl opposite the bracket carrying the crane, all of which is plainly drawings.

With the crane in the position referred to, and the mail bag suspended from the supporting latch device therefor, the bag is adapted to be carried by the moving car directly into the flared mouth 25 at one end of a horizontally arranged` receiving chute 2G arranged along side of the track and carried at the upper end of a station bag receiver designated in its entirety by the number 27. This bag receiver essentially comprises.. a stand 28, andan upright trapping box29 built within the stand and open at top'zand bottom to provide for the reception and dis-A charge of the mail bag or bags received from the passing car. The trapping box '24 is provided at the upper end thereof with the horizontally arranged bag receiving chute 26 open throughout and `having projecting portions at both sides ol the vertical plane ol" the box proper to provide the ilared entrance mouth 25 previously referred to. By reason of this construction, the station bag receiver will receive the mail .bags from either end thereof, and at a point centrally between the opposite mouths 25, and, within the plane of the vertical center of the box 29, there is arranged the combined bull'er and dei'lector 30 in the form of a valve or valve plate pivotally hung atits -upper end, as at 31, between the sides ofthe chute 26, and disposed transversely of said chute so that an incoming bag lrom either direction will strike against the said deilector 30, causing` the lower end of the latter to swing against one side ol the bex 29 (as shown in llig. 1) and thereby dellect the bag downward `through the box lentcatch net 32 detachably hung, at 33, within the stand 28 beneath the lower' discharging end ol'- the box 29.

In carrying out the invention, certain be utilized as the posts or abutments 16 engaged by thetrigger. 13 of the latch device, and also, these posts or abutments may be provided at their upper ends with hanger armsbet carrying' pivotal tripping elements 35 from which the mail 'bag is suspended to be caught by the A mail bag which is vthus bya shown in F ig. 1 ofthe 29 into the'rope for equ1vaably fastened to said bar by any suitable means. One way of fastening the bar 39 in place is suggested in the drawings `and consists in providing said bar 39 with a pair of spaced cleat pieces 40 engaging respectively upon opposite sides of the frame bar 7, and

' whose opposite ends are respectively engaged by a sliding keeper loop 41 on the bar 7, and beneath the flanged stop bar 21, as may beplainly seen from the several figures of the drawings. This detachable fastening permits a reversal of the catching fork according to the direction in'which the crane is employed, and also permits the crane to be usedWith or without the fork.

The pivotal grasping horns 37 are provided Witha toggle link connection 42, at the center of which is pivotally connected, as at 43, one end of a ratchet locking bar 44 loosely Working through the keepers 45 carried by the bar 39 and engaging with a fixed holding tooth 46 also carried by the bar 39. With the horns 30 spread open as shown in w Figs. 1 and` 2, the impact of the mail bag against the toggle 42 will ti htly close the horns on the bag and the ratc iet locking bar will slide back over the tooth 46, and, becoming enga ed therewith when the horns are closed, will lock the latter closed so that there is no danger ofdropping the bag till pulled into the car.

Various changes in the form, proportion,

and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the s irit or sacrificingany of the advantages o the invention.

I claim; i

, l. In an apparatus of the class described, a supporting bracket, a swinging crane hinged to said bracket, and a bag supportin latch device mounted on the swin ing en of the crane and consisting of aixe keeper,

a supporting bolt slidably working in said keeper, and a trigger pivotally mounted' and l This carrying bar having a pivotal connection at one end with said bolt.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a crane carrying a tripping bag supporting device, of a station bag receiver comprising an upright trapping box, a horizontal receiving chute at the top of and in communication with said box, o en entrance nioutl'is at both ends of the ciute, and a ivotally suspended combined buffer and de ector hung transversely of the hute within the top portion of the trapping 3. In an apparatus of the class described,

the combination with the crane carrying a tripping bag supporting device, of a station bag receiver comprising a trapping box having a receiving chute at the top, a pivotal. deflector mounted transversely within the receiving chute, and a rope net supported beneath said box.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a station bag hanger and a fixed abutment, of a crane carrying a tripping bag supporting` latch device cooperating with said abutment, and areversible self-clutching catching fork cooperating with said bag hanger. y

5. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination withl a fixed abutment and a bag hanger at the station, of a crane carrying a lrripping bag supporting device cooperatirgr with 'said abutment, and' a catching device detach ably and,reversibly mounted on the crane, said catching devicecomprising a carrying bar, a pair of oppositely arranged grasping horns pivoted to said bar, a to fgle connection between the horns, and a se f-acting locking device for said toggle connection.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a crane carrying a single tripping bag receiving latch, and a supplemental carrying bar detachably secured `upon the swinging end ofthe crane and carrying a plurality of tripping bag supporting latches.

In testimon whereol l hereunto affix my lsignature in tie presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD WV. FIX.

Witnesses:

D. B. WoLnAUirna, R. P. BRAnDoe-K. 

